


Let Your Actions Speak

by emissarystilinski



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of Racism, SO FLUFFY, Stupid Boys being Stupid, dex doesnt talk with his words, muslim nursey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-08 03:25:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14096127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emissarystilinski/pseuds/emissarystilinski
Summary: Five times Dex let his actions speak for him and the one time Nursey let his.





	Let Your Actions Speak

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to [Han](https://archiveofourown.org/users/42hrb/profile) for the beta and [Emily](http://theviolentfems.tumblr.com/) for the Muslim cuisine help and advice!

1.The Bookshelf

 

The first two weeks of Nursey and Dex living together is honestly hell.

 

Nurse figured that since they were stuck with each other, he and Dex could at least attempt getting along. Nursey tried prying some information out of Dex about literally everything. If he missed home, what classes he was taking, that game that they all just watched downstairs, how his homework was going. It seemed like nothing was getting Dex to do anything other than give a one word answer or snap at him. His tried and true response was, “Nurse, stop fucking talking to me.”

 

His next attempt was maybe to tell Dex about his own stuff. Nursey tried to tell him about how annoying this one guy in his American Fiction class was because he knew that Dex would also find Sam infuriating. He got nothing more than a grunt of acknowledgement and a “that sucks” in response. Next he tried to tell him about something funny his sister said on the phone and Dex literally stared at him blankly before going back to his homework. Any other attempt Nursey made ended with a lot of Dex yelling and/or storming out of their room.

 

It bothered Nursey more than he had really expected it to and suddenly he found himself getting angrier with every failed attempt at semi friendship. Sue him for trying to make their living situation easier, for trying to ease the obvious tension. Sorry he wasn’t resigned to sulking for the entire year about the worst ending to a dibs flip known to man.

 

Then one night while a kegster is winding down, Dex goes upstairs to finish a reading. About an hour later while most of the house is just SMH and the kegs are pretty much tapped, Nursey figures he’ll try to be nice and bring Dex a beer and a slice of pie. He’s only a little bit drunk so the stairs don’t give him too much trouble but the door knob is a bitch solely because he has both hands full.

 

Before he knows it, the door is getting yanked open and a sleep mussed, slightly fuming Dex is standing much closer than he expected. Nursey stares a little too hard and then Dex is gone, retreating back into the mostly dark room leaving the door open for Nursey to wander in.

 

“Thought you were reading?” Nurse questioned the lump on the bottom bunk.

 

After a lot of huffing and puffing, Dex turns over and eyes him stonily, “I lied. I wanted to go the fuck to sleep which you just successfully ruined because you wanted to bring your drunken midnight snack to bed.”

 

He doesn’t know if it’s the whiskey he’d drank or the fact that Dex honest to God thinks he’s in the right but Nursey sees red.

 

“You know what, Pointdexter, you can go fuck yourself.”

 

Dex has the decency to look shocked at the outburst, “Excuse me?”

 

“I said,” Nursey found himself growling the words out instead of yelling, “Go. Fuck. Yourself. I’ve been trying for fucking weeks to make this a little less like hell, trying to get along with you even though you’re hell bent on making me feel like fuckin shit and I’m fuckin done! I’m done trying to talk to you, trying to understand you, trying to do something fucking nice for you when I was under the impression you were stuck doing homework while the rest of us were having fun. And you know what I get it, I’m a living breathing reminder of the fact that you have to share a room with me and that you fucking hate me but, you could maybe give me a fucking inch instead of making me feel like the world’s biggest inconvenience every second of every fucking day.”

 

Once he was done he was panting, looking around the room because he kind of lost himself for a minute there. He felt lighter but also kind of sick to his stomach because Dex was staring at him with the widest eyes and his ears are bright red and at some point he moved into a sitting position instead of his bundle of blankets and fury.

 

“Now.” Nurse gritted out, the hollow feeling in his chest was getting wider and wider the longer Dex looked at him. He really needed to get the fuck out of here. “Chow is staying with Farmer tonight so I’m sleeping in there. Maybe tomorrow you can at least attempt to be less of a selfish, callous ass hat and I can attempt to keep my chill and officially stay out of your way like you always say you want.”

 

Numbly, he grabbed the Nayyirah Waheed book he always reads when he feels like shit and his duvet before leaving their room.

 

Derek almost jumped the fuck out of his skin because the second he let the door slam and his eyes focused, he saw Bitty standing there, frozen in place like he’d been on his way to bed before Nursey went off.

 

“Sweetheart, are you ok?” he offered, walking over tentatively like he was approaching a wild animal. His captain put a hand on Nurseys forearm lightly. Nursey was never one to snap like that and Bitty knew it.

 

He was not going to cry. There was no way in hell he was going to cry. He fought with Dex constantly. Why was this getting to him so badly? Nursey always tried his best, contrary to Dex’s thinking, and in the back of his mind he knew that for some reason he wanted Dex to at least give him a fucking chance.

 

“I’m fine, Bits.” His voice sounded blunted even to his own ears, “I’m just... Tired.”

 

Bitty looked at him with the most concerned look and Nursey wanted to be angry at him for it but he just felt himself lean a little heavier into the hand on his arm.

 

“Ok, honey.” Bitty squeezed his arm sympathetically before letting his hand drop. Nurse nodded before embarrassingly scurrying into Chowder’s room.

 

He shucked his jeans and shirt off before he burrito’d himself into his duvet, dropping unceremoniously to the bed. He didn’t even have the energy to read at this point. God he felt like shit for losing it on Dex even though the ass hole needed to be put in his place. In Nurse’s opinion, Dex was like a bull in a China shop when it came to people’s feelings. He just bogarted through them without realizing how what he says or how he says it makes people feel.

 

More than anything, Nursey hated how fucking sad he was. Yeah he was getting more and more mad the past few weeks but, something he and Dex did have in common was that, when it came to each other, both of them found it a lot easier to fall back into anger more than any other emotion.

 

Nursey had been so angry that it only took letting all of that out to feel how fucking bummed he’d been feeling about the fail that was living together.

 

He fell asleep after an hour of spiraling and woke up too hot and partially blind. Something Nursey hated about Chowder’s room was the lack of curtains. The sun baked the room and, especially in the morning, there was no escaping the brightness of late morning. So Nurse lay there for a few minutes, trying to decide how long he was going to put off going to get his books so he could hide in the library all day before he begrudgingly got up.

 

After he threw his jeans on, Nurse craned his head down the hall and he could see the door of the room was open. Truthfully, it was noon so Dex probably wasn’t there; he always got an early start but especially on Sundays. It was freakish.

 

Just like he thought, Dex wasn’t there when Nurse entered the room but there was a gorgeous, cherry three shelf bookcase sitting in the middle of the room. He looked around the room like this was a trap set specifically for him. It was really well made but simple and Derek let his hand glide across the finish.

 

Nursey was looking all over it for a note or a price sticker or a stamp to see where it was from but all he found was a ‘WP’ carved onto the bottom right leg. For a second Nurse was confused and then it cleared up in his head.

 

William Pointdexter. WP.

 

Dex... Dex  _ made _ Nursey a bookshelf. An entire bookshelf. He knew the kid was good with woodworking and tools and shit but… this was a lot to take in. As far as apologies went, this was a good one.

 

Before he could think to hard about it, he gingerly lifted the bookshelf and slipped it beneath their singular window. He picked up his pile of books and put them onto the top shelf and one of the candles Dex didn’t complain about on the very top. Then he saw Dex’s textbooks on the desk, a shotty pile that was sure to fall any day now. He threw them onto the middle shelf before swapping out his day old jeans and t-shirt for some sweats and a hoodie and heading to the library.

 

He didn’t get back till almost ten o’clock that night and Dex was posted up in his bunk, his laptop balanced on his stomach. He took one of his headphones out when he saw Nursey.

 

“Hey,” he offered, “How was the library?”

 

Nursey almost choked on his tongue. Not only did Dex make him a damn bookshelf but he was… trying to have a conversation with him?

 

Nursey didn’t hide his suspicion, he felt one of his eyebrow reach his hairline, “Uhh it was fine. Got my readings done.”

 

Dex nodded and Derek thought that maybe he was about to say something but then he nodded again before slipping his earbud back in.

 

They didn’t talk about the bookshelf or the candle lit on top of it.

 

  1. The Coffee



 

It’s a cruel, cruel joke that Nursey’s math requirement was only available at 8:30 AM. Derek Nurse willingly admits that he is not a man that can survive a math class at any time of day but especially not when he’s 75% asleep. Every Tuesday night Chowder and Dex (who has actually taken to fondly(?) chirping him and it’s throwing Derek off kilter a bit to see Dex laugh so much) cackle as they watch him go to bed at 9:00 PM.

 

Nursey is running down the stairs on yet another Wednesday morning when he thinks he hears his name being called but things are very muffled when hes got his beanie down so far it’s getting in his eyes and he’s still mostly asleep.

 

“Nurse!” Okay that was definitely someone calling his name.

 

He turns around and Dex is walking towards him from the kitchen. It may be his lack of consciousness but Dex looks… pink?

 

“Uh. Here.” Dex blurts, shoving a huge to go cup into Nurse’s hand.

 

All Derek can do is nod before trudging off to class. Half hour in, he’s awake enough to notice the scent of coffee in the room. It usually makes his stomach growl and his mood smart because everyone else in this damn class is alive enough that early to have the good sense to make themselves coffee.

 

But it’s closer than it usually is and then Nurse remembers the mug Dex gave him, sitting between his thighs on his desk chair. Carefully, he removed the lid and he truly thought he was going to cry at the milky brown, sweet smelling liquid staring back at him.

 

Nursey’s coffee order isn’t too difficult, just a bit of sugar and a lot of cream, but he can’t help the noise he makes when he takes a tentative sip.

 

That’s one of the first classes he can properly function and it’s hilarious to watch peoples confusion when he asks questions. 

 

The next time it happens is before a roadie that weekend. They have to drive all the way down to Virginia Tech so the bus is leaving at the ass crack of dawn. He sets an alarm but clearly he sleeps through it because before he knows it, Dex is standing on the bottom bunk shaking him awake.

 

Derek’s almost positive that the only reason he made it to Faber was because he was sandwiched between Dex and Chowder, the pair of them herding him through campus. Dex shoves him into a row and all Nurse can remember is Dex plopping down next to him before passing the fuck out.

 

He doesn’t wake up till they hit a rough bit of traffic outside of Philly. Nursey immediately realizes that he’s been sleeping on something… someone. Oh god. He shoots up so fast he hits his head on the window.

 

“So sorry, bro.” he mumbles in Dex’s general direction, face heating. He waits for him to snap, to be berated for unconsciously violating Dex’s personal space but, it never comes.

 

“S’okay.” Dex says and Nursey feels him shrug. “Here.”

 

He’s forced to stop avoiding Dex’s gaze at that point and he’s faced with a blushing Dex holding two big travel mugs, one hand extended slightly to Nursey.

 

“Uh thanks, man.” Nursey says, trying for nonchalant before taking a big sip. Nursey is so infamously horrible before having coffee that the team has a poll of alter ego names going around.

 

Before he can stop himself he’s groaning, “God damn you make the best coffee.”

 

“What?” Dex blurts out, eyebrows high on his forehead.

 

Nursey shrugs and tries his best not to laugh, taking a gulp before clarifying sarcastically, “I said: you make the best coffee. It took me so fuckin long to learn how to brew coffee let alone how I take it but you’re over here like a fuckin coffee wizard.”

Dex rolls his eyes and brings his own mug up to his mouth before muttering, “You’re a fucking nightmare without it. Shut up and drink.”

 

Nursey bumps their shoulders together and takes his iPad out before doing as he’s told. When he turns on Brooklyn 99, he offers Dex one of his earbuds and, surprisingly, Dex takes it without protest. It’s oddly intimate and Nurse pointedly doesn’t think too hard about it.

 

Every Wednesday morning after that, the same tall mug is waiting for him on the side table by the front door and Nurse takes it unconsciously now. Every roadie Dex brings coffee for the both of them and Nursey brings his iPad.

 

Derek writes it off as Dex not wanting to deal with a failing Nursey or a moody, coffee-less Nursey but he can’t help but notice the blush in Dex’s cheeks every time it happens.

  
  


  1. Food



 

Fall semester turned out so much better than Nursey had been expecting. The team was doing well, getting along better than anyone expected after losing the seniors last year, and, to top it all off, he and Dex were actually friends. Dex still made him coffee and Nursey brought Dex snacks when they studied in the library. After Nursey went and bought a shit ton of clearance Halloween candy, he only shared his bounty with Dex; he even saved a huge bag of Reece’s cups for him. Dex put Christmas lights up in their room after Hausgiving because it’s Nursey’s favorite part of the holiday season next to the movies.

 

Nursey’s least favorite part of the holidays this year? The fact that he isn’t able to spend Christmas with his family. With finals, it being midseason, and them having a game on the 23rd and a roadie on the 26th, there’s no way any of them are getting time to go home.

 

Christmas was the only holiday that his parents could stand being in the same room. They make all of he and his sister’s favorite foods and they all play Scrabble on the living room floor. He loved Samwell but with it being his first time really being away from his family on Christmas, Nurse is honestly miserable.

 

His homesickness isn’t helped along by the ten page final paper he has due comparing and contrasting fucking Kerouac and Neal Cassady, two of his least favorite authors, and the fact that it and all of his other finals were on literally the same day. He’d spent the first week leading up to finals huddled in a corner of the library with the team but decidedly uninvited himself when he snapped on Chowder of all people. Nursey’s anxiety spiked hard when he was homesick, even more so when he had to deal with exams. When he was overwhelmed like this he was a complete ass hole.

 

So for the week leading up to finals, he basically shuts himself into he and Dex’s room to keep himself from being such a dick.

 

Dex brings him coffee before he leaves for the library most days and kindly refills Derek’s water bottle, probably so he isn’t a dehydrated mess for their games.

 

It’s two nights before finals when his mom calls him. Nursey almost doesn’t pick up, knowing that hearing her voice is going to make his homesickness way fucking worse but he taps ‘Accept’ anyway.

 

“Hi mama.” He mutters, going for busy rather than miserable.

 

“Hmmm.” His mother is already trying to discern how hard to push him clearly, he can tell in her tone. “Habibi, tell me what’s going on.”

 

It’s not a question and her voice is too soft for it to be a command, just a gentle coercion that works immediately. Nursey breaks slowly, his bottom lip wobbling slightly before the first tear falls and then the next.

 

“I’m fine.” He sniffles after a minute, clearing his voice before saying, “It’s just finals and tensions high with a lot of games and…”

 

He falters because he doesn’t want her to worry about him but he should have known it was useless.

 

“Derek,” She starts but he doesn’t let her finish.

 

“I’m homesick as hell and I’m pissed that I’m missing Christmas.” He whines like the brat he knows he is, “It’s my first Christmas without you guys and I’m already going crazy. S’hard to concentrate when I’m missing you guys.”

 

She gives him a moment of silence in case he has more but Nursey’s so damn tired now that he’s too drained to complain more. It’s a comfortable silence though, one that they’ve shared many times before over mugs of tea or a couple of books between them.

 

“You’re coming home for the weekend before the New Year, so that’s good at least, right?” She reassures him, “I know it’s hard to focus on something so far ahead when you’re already anxious and upset but you have to try.”

 

“I know,” He sighs, letting the last couple tears fall, “I know.”

 

The good thing about the haus is that you can hear anybody coming or going. So that’s how he knows someone is coming up the stairs.

 

“Ammi, I’ve gotta go ok?” He rushes, he really doesn’t want anyone seeing him this upset, “I’ll call you after my finals on Friday.”

 

His heart clenches at the love in her voice when they exchange goodbyes but she’s right; he has to keep his eyes forward. He’s trying to scrub the tear tracks off of his cheeks when the door opens revealing one William Pointdexter carrying a mug of something steaming.

 

“Oh it’s you.” Nursey sighs, shocked at how relieved he feels. If anyone was going to walk in on him being completely unchill, he’d want it to be Dex.

 

“Well, I’m flattered, Nurse.” Dex chirps, kicking the door shut behind him. Suddenly there’s a mug being handed to him. “Tea?”

 

Nurse doesn’t know what to say at first, so he just nods while taking the mug, the heat of the tea and Dex’s fingers brushing against his making his face heat up. He smells his Egyptian Licorice tea before he even takes a sip. It’s a strong smelling tea that his mom always made them growing up when he or Farrah were sick or upset. Hers was homemade but Derek settles for the Yogi Tea he can just pick up at the store. Dex must have smelled him drinking it the past few weeks and something in Nursey’s chest warms. 

 

“Hey Dex?” He prompts, staring at the mug instead of at Dex changing in the corner.

 

“Hm?” Cautious brown eyes are on him and the string lights really make them glow. Nursey feels himself smile for the first time in the past weeks.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Yeah, man,” Dex shrugs while pulling his t-shirt down, “Of course. I just, uh, it sounded like you were kinda upset and I always smell that shit when you’re stressing.”

 

Embarrassment makes his face heat unbelievably more.

 

“I- I didn’t know you were home.” Nursey admitted.

 

Dex nodded, scratching the back of his neck, “Yeah, I was over in uh,” he gestured to the opposite wall, “Chowder’s room. We were doing homework and I thought I heard you. I just wanted to-”

 

Dex didn’t exactly seem to know what to say so he just shrugged and lifted his hand in Derek’s direction. Nursey wasn’t finding words any easier, a bit bewildered by the open, cautious way Dex was looking at him. Then they both blinked and the moment passed, Dex busying himself with blowing out the candle Nursey had lit and climbing into his bed.

 

Derek huddled against the wall and held onto his mug like a lifeline, “Good night, Dex.”

 

“Night, Nurse.”

 

\--

 

Nursey survives his finals but barely. He had coffee from Dex and homemade snack bars from Bitty to tide him over till he could get back to the Haus. His paper came out much less judgmental than he felt and he actually thinks he passed his gen ed exams even though he’d been putting those classes off till the last minute.

 

By the time he trudges back through the front door he’s ready to pass out on the truly questionable green couch but the second he steps over the threshold his senses are hit with… home.

 

He honest to God thought that his parents were there for a moment until he looked up and saw a few tupperware containers on the table. The spread was… impressive and ambitious to say the least and it quite literally had his name written on it. In tons of colorful post-its, ‘For Nursey, don’t touch’ were plastered all over each tupperware container. There was a few dishes his dad probably would have made, even down to the collard greens, and the staples his mom would have had on the table like an entire garlic chicken and small bowl of dates. Nurse’s heart lurched into his throat just at the smell.

 

“Nursey, sweetie, you okay?”

 

He whirled and there was Bitty, looking especially soft in his Zimmerman Falconers jersey and sweats.

 

“Did- did you do all this?” Nursey murmured, blinking rapidly to clear the mist in his eyes.

 

Bitty’s face softened further and he walked over to stand next to Nursey over the smorgasbord. He almost flinched when Bitty put a comforting arm on his shoulder.

 

“Nope not me.” He popped the ‘p’ on ‘nope’ like he clearly knew who it was.

 

Nursey racked his brain, “Was- was my mom here or something? She knew since I was missing Christmas-”

 

“Nope.” Bitty shook his head and Nursey started getting frustrated.

 

“Stop doing that, man” he huffed, “Is my sister here?”

 

Bitty sighed a longsuffering sigh that reminded Nursey of his Nana before going to the stove to pour some hot water into a mug.

 

“I mean she did help a bit, virtually.” Bitty murmured as he went into their tea canister.

 

He just stopped talking altogether as he made his tea. He was taking out a spoon for sugar when Nursey just could not take it anymore.

 

He flapped his hands around in a very unchill way that only his current state could do to him.

 

“Bitty!”

 

Another sigh and Bitty was turning to him. He looked so reluctant that Nurse wanted to tell him to forget it but there was just a hint of something in his eye that made Nursey stay quiet a moment longer.

 

“I came into this kitchen today after a long exam, looking to make a pie to shake my nerves and I found Dex trying his damndest to make collard greens.” Bitty’s voice was fond on the last bit and Nursey felt himself stop breathing, “I asked him what the hell he thought he was doing. The boy had margarine in MY kitchen, Nursey, margarine. He mumbled something about making dinner and after I badgered him he- he said you’d been feelin homesick and stressed so he was trying to... “

 

He trailed off and Nursey knew for sure that Dex hadn’t said why or where he got the idea no matter how many times Bitty asked because he was a secretive fucker when he wanted to be.

 

“Well, anywho, I helped him with the collards and sweet potatoes but when he said something about garlic chicken I was at a loss. We found a recipe online but he wanted to make sure it was right so… we called Farrah.”

 

“Oh my god.” Nursey breathed.

 

Bitty shook his head slightly, small smile cracking wide open, “You should have seen Dex’s face when I pulled out my phone to call her. It really was fine and she was happy to clarify some stuff for us. The baklava were actually her idea!”

 

Nursey ran a hand through his hair, completely forgetting his snapback and jumped at the sound of it hitting the floor. God he was hungry and he was tired and he was… he didn’t know what he was.

 

“I’ll leave you to your dinner then.” Bitty told him, shaking Nursey out of his thoughts. “He made me promise not to tell you it was him so say you just made a good guess.”

 

He nodded to the other boy and let himself slump down into one of the chairs.

 

He only paused for a moment before digging in. He couldn’t tell if it was Bitty’s coaching or natural talent but, William Pointdexter could fucking cook. It would never be like his parents cooking, no one could ever replicate that but, the comfort was there nonetheless.

 

When he’d finished and put the dishes in the dishwasher, Nursey made his way upstairs. He didn’t know what exactly he was going to say to Dex but he clearly had to say something. He couldn’t let a gesture like that go unnoticed.

 

The words “Dex” and “gestures” were coming up an awful lot this semester. Nursey knew he was trying to be better but, this was something else. It wasn’t just coffee or a bookshelf. He’d known how much this would mean to Nursey so clearly he’d been paying attention. The entire thing threw him completely off balance at first  but, the more he thought about it, when the shock wore off he’d never felt so grounded.

 

He paused outside their door, nerves making his hand tremble against the door knob before finally taking it in his hand. Nurse shook his head a little to clear the nerves he felt coming on before opening the door quickly.

 

“Dex,” He started and immediately snapped his mouth shut because there was Dex, sprawled out on the bottom bunk with one leg hanging haphazardly off the edge of the mattress.

 

His mouth was hanging open and his hair was all mussed up but Nurse couldn’t really tear his eyes away. Dex was exhausted from cooking all day. For him. Something twisted in his stomach at the thought and of everything that could mean.

 

The thought alone made his brain melt a little after the day he’d had so, instead of dissecting everything he was feeling, Nurse threw his sweats into the hamper and climbed up to his bed.

 

He wasn’t entirely sure these gestures meant anything at all; maybe this was how Dex was friends with people. He is an all in or all out kind of guy, after all.

 

That was all it probably was. Nursey let the thought sink in and fell asleep so fast he hardly felt the faint twinge of disappointment.

 

  1. Gloves



 

The game they have the day after Christmas is a doozie.

 

It’s always a toss up when they play Harvard for who’s going to win but without a doubt Harvard is always a true group of ass holes on the ice. Nursey didn’t know what it was about Ivy League schools but they always had sticks up their asses and the need to make the other team feel small.

 

And honestly, Nursey had been having a pretty great game. He’d had three solid assists, Chowder was fucking killing it in goal, and he and Dex were playing better than ever.

 

For some reason, Dex stayed pegged to #9 all game. The two of them crashing into each other harshly on more than one occasion. Dex was a naturally aggressive player, you had to be as a d-man but, Nursey hadn’t seen him like this in awhile. He’d even tried asking Dex quickly if he was good but all he’d done was shake his head and drift back to his position.

 

It was the end of the third period and they were down three. Bitty was rushing Harvard’s goal, doing his very best to make the other team dizzy with how fast he was moving when the whistle rang out. Every player came to a stop and Derek could tell the Samwell players were confused till they heard the scuffling.

 

Nursey turned quickly and there was Dex and #9, taking turns shoving each other so hard they were skidding across the ice till Dex had him against the boards. All Derek could hear was the sound of skates on ice as they all rushed to break it up. Nursey got close enough to hear them spitting venom at each other when Harvard shoved Dex back in a surprising show of strength.

 

No one but Dex would be sure what had started it but whatever came out of number nine’s mouth next had Dex doing something he hadn’t done in two years. All Nursey heard was the velcro and he was skating harder.

 

“Dex, don’t!” He yelled, muffled with through his mouthguard but for some reason it only spurred Dex on more.

 

His gloves hit the ice and it was done. The first hit landed so hard Nursey was sure he wasn’t the only one who heard blood hit the ice. Nine tried to regain his balance but he wasn’t faster than Dex. He was back on him in a moment throwing a punch that definitely broke the guys nose. The refs were pulling at Dex’s pad’s but Nursey had the momentum once he got there, crashing into Dex and going until he had him against the boards.

 

“Dex! Dex!” Nursey was practically screaming but Dex wasn’t even seeing him, his eyes trained on the mass of the Harvard player on the ice. “WILL!”

 

And that seemed to ring through to him because Dex’s eyes snapped to his in a moment, his breath still coming fast and hard but he’d stopped fighting against Nursey’s hold. They stayed like that, staring at each other until Nursey felt Dex slump against the plexi glass.

 

“Dex.” Nursey panted, “What. the. Fuck. Was that shit? You’re ass is gunna get suspended for at least the next game. What’s the matter with you?”

 

Dex was shaking his head though, pushing against Nursey again to get past him. Nursey held fast though and slammed him back.

 

“Oh, hell no, Pointdexter! You’re not getting out of this-”

 

“Nursey!” Bitty barked the best that Eric Bittle could bark, “Let him go. Dex, locker room. Now.”

 

He immediately let go of Dex’s shoulders, letting him skate past him as the Harvard fans in the bleachers booed him off. Nursey started to skate after him but Bitty immediately stopped him.

 

“We still have a period left. Get back out there, one of the frogs will take his spot.” Bitty tutted at him when he started to protest, “Nursey, don’t start. We don’t have a choice.”

 

Nursey gritted his teeth and nodded and the rest of the game went by in a blur. Bitty scored but they lost by two in the end. The whole team was tired and livid, silently making their way into the locker room and practically ripping off their pads. Samwell was never a team that took a loss easily but Nursey was fuming for a multitude of reasons. He kept looking around the locker room for one of those reasons, Dex’s stuff sat right next to Nursey’s where he’d left it. He finally spotted him coming around the corner with a much less angry looking Bitty.

 

The second Dex came over to grab his stuff, Nursey was roughly tying his shoes. He straightened, ready to rip Dex a new ass hole but he just gave Nurse a tired look that easily said  _ Don’t _ . God he hated that look.

 

“Fine.” Nursey bit out, grabbing his bag and heading out. He didn’t bother to check if Dex was following him because Nursey knew he was.

 

The ride to the hotel was tense to say the least and Ford was trying her best to cheer them up while she handed them their room keys after they all pooled into the lobby. He and Dex were rooming together so he really wasn’t subtle about letting the door slam when they got inside. Dex huffed in front of him, clearly annoyed and Derek could not stand it.

 

“Don’t fucking sigh at me,” Nursey snapped, unable to hold back anymore, “when you won’t even tell me what the fuck that was.”

 

Dex scrubbed his hands through his hair, “Nursey, please.”

 

“No! That was way out of line and you won’t even tell me why-”

 

“You.” Dex seethed but Nursey had a feeling he wasn’t angry with him. “I lost it because he was talking racist bull shit about you, okay? I kept him away from you because of it.”

 

Nursey was speechless, more at Dex’s reaction than anything else. Being a brown player in a predominantly white sport always came with this shit. Someone was always dropping comments about affirmative action or some shit but after a while Nurse started letting them roll off of him. It always pissed the other guy off more when he just kept skating by with a smirk.

 

“And before you say anything, it wasn’t typical bull shit, okay?” He rolled his eyes and pulled at his hair so hard Derek was a little concerned, “It’s ridiculous that any of this shit can be called ‘typical’ but that’s a different rant for a different time. The point is, he was saying some really nasty shit about you and then about me when he caught on that I was keeping him away from you. When I finally had to slam him he- he really just. I’m getting pissed again just thinking about it but, Reddit trolls probably admire this piece of shit. What he said was fucking foul and I couldn’t give a fuck about getting suspended for the next game because people can’t just think that shit is okay, Nursey. It’s not fucking okay.”

 

Dex looked up at him with pleading eyes and Nursey really couldn’t look away. Most of the past year this kind of thing was becoming more and more frequent to the point where it scared him sometimes. And yeah he’s forever surrounded by white dudes but in Andover he had Shitty backing him with the same intensity that Dex of all people just had. It was really, really easy to feel like it was him against the world on this team, at Samwell, in this world but moments like these reminded him that he wasn’t.

 

Before he could talk himself out of it he pulled Dex into a tight hug. Nursey was 90% sure he was about to be physically thrown across the room but after a moment of frozen muscles, Dex surprised them both and relaxed into it.

 

They stayed like that for a minute, Nurseys arms thrown around Dex’s neck and Dex’s arms looped around Nursey middle in a tight embrace. When Nursey exhaled, he felt it shake through him a little.

 

“Thank you. You don’t-” He stopped, letting his head droop a little on Dex’s shoulder, “You don’t know how much you having my back like that means to me.”

 

He felt Dex nod into his neck and tighten his arms a bit before letting Nursey go. He didn’t go too far, pulling back far enough to look Nursey in the eyes.

 

“I’ll always have your back.” Dex said seriously, sounding much more calm than he looked.

 

All Nurse could do was nod. He was starting to feel a little cold now that he didn’t have Dex pressed against the length of his body and wow that’s a thought he’s gunna ignore.

 

Both of them were way too tired to shower so they got into some sweats and climbed into the big ass bed they were sharing for the night and drifted off to sleep without ceremony.

 

Nursey may have woken up in the middle of the night to Dex’s light snores on the back of his neck but he chalked it up to a vivid dream.

 

  1. Birthdays



 

No one knows how it happened but Nursey’s birthday lands on a day that he doesn’t have class. He would be excited if it weren’t for the fact that everyone else had at least one. Bitty left him a pie all to himself and he spent the morning eating it and skyping his family. As far as birthdays went, it wasn’t going so bad, if not a little boring. It felt like any other day which was a weird, existential type bummer.

 

A little bit before noon, Nursey could see a red head of hair coming down the walk and he tried to calm himself. After the dropping of the gloves, Nursey quietly admitted to himself that he definitely had a weird crush on Dex

 

It was something he would never utter out loud to himself or anyone. Especially not Dex. They had finally gotten to a great place in their friendship and Nursey was not about to ruin it. Sure, he wanted Dex but he wanted him in all the ways. As a teammate, as a lover, as a rival, as a partner, as a friend. So if he could only have him as one of those, he would take what he could get, was more than happy to.

 

By the time Dex came through the door Nursey only allowed himself a peak up at him and a brief wave. He was settled on the couch in his onesie till at least after dinner.

 

“Wanna watch New Girl with me? It’s time you were introduced.” Nursey offered, knowing full well that he was being a selfish little shit. Dex probably had homework and was not about to spend his entire afternoon with Nursey on the couch but it was his birthday so if he was going to be selfish any day it was today.

 

“Actually, how do you feel about a drive?” Dex offered, “You’d have to put actual clothes on but I promise it’s worth it.”

 

Nursey felt his eyes narrow. Dex had his suspicious face on, the one where he was trying too hard to be nonchalant and disinterested. Nursey dedicated a lot of time to studying his roommate, ok?

 

“What are you up to, Pointdexter?”

 

Dex rolled his eyes dramatically but he was fidgeting with his backpack strap. “Are you coming with or not? The Pointdexter train is leaving the station in ten minutes with or without you, Nurse.”

 

He was watching an episode he’d watched over fifty times before and he was curious so he shut his laptop with a resounding snap and went upstairs to change. When he came down, Dex was bouncing on his heels like a kid hopped up on sugar.

 

Dex opened the door and swept his free hand in front of him, signaling Nurse to go like he was some kind of butler.

 

“Thank you, Geeves.” Nursey chirped him.

 

“Ass hole.” Dex said but he was laughing under his breath.

 

They piled into the car and headed off campus. There was a sheet of snow on the ground but the weather was clear today, sun shining harshly off the stark white sidewalks. Dex turned on a mix he always had in his car, a conglomeration of things Nursey really liked and also hadn’t liked at first but he’d heard them enough times now that they’d grown on him. Nurseys taste in music was often too out there and varied for Dex’s tastes but they agreed on enough that it wasn’t difficult to find something to put on. A Lumineers song was playing softly and Nursey felt weirdly content there in Dex’s passenger seat, watching the trees go by and listening to Dex hum under his breath.

 

They got on the highway towards Boston and Nursey narrowed his eyes at Dex. Clearly he was just as aware of Nursey as Nursey was of him because he smirked immediately.

 

“Don’t even ask; I’m not gunna tell you.” Dex sang the last part at him like the petty little shit he was and Nursey clucked his tongue at him but kept his mouth shut.

 

For all his chill, Nursey was an easily anxious dude. Silences that stretched too long made him uncomfortable and no matter how much Dex called it bull shit, too many people’s energies threw him off. Sure he was down for a party just like anybody else and when he was wasted he was way more extroverted but usually you could find him in the corner with a smaller group that didn’t drain him too badly.

 

The fact that he could sit there in the car with Dex for a little over a half hour and just chill was part of the reason Nursey liked him so much. It didn’t take any of Nursey’s energy to be around him anymore. Sure they still had their moments, they always would as long as they were both still breathing, but now that he wasn’t constantly ready for a fight and Dex had let Nursey get to know him better, they both were content with these comfortable silences, being alone and together all at once.

 

Nursey had gotten so distracted by his own thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed they’d exited the highway till they stopped at a light in downtown Boston.

 

“Keep an eye out for a spot.” Dex instructed him, his own eyes already peeled. Dex was nothing if not efficient and Nursey tried not to stare at the pinch of concentration between his eyebrows.

 

Once they’d parked and Nursey forcibly paid the meter, he and a now disgruntled Dex made their way down the street. He felt like he had been here before but most of Boston blended together for him. Suddenly he felt his collar yank against his Adams Apple and it took him a moment to realize Dex had stopped walking and grabbed him by his hood.

 

“Choke me out, why don’t you.” Nursey snapped, giving an exaggerated cough but Dex wasn’t really paying attention.

 

“Come on, we’re right on time.” He said, eyes on a sign in the window.

 

_ Nayyirah Waheed Reading 2:00 PM _

 

Nursey not only felt his breath stop but saw the clouds of breath in front of him disappear completely. This… could not be happening. Nayyirah Waheed was hands down his favorite poet. He had both of her books and each was battered to the point of falling apart. They were his comfort books, his introspective books, the kinds of poems he already planned to get tattooed on his skin when he had the cash. He watched the few interviews and readings she’s done on YouTube religiously. Nurse had written so many papers on her writing that one of his professors kindly asked him to kindly branch out for his next analysis. He’d never caught one of her readings, always just missing them by a day or two even when he was in high school.

 

Nursey couldn’t breathe.

 

“Nurse?” Dex asked, concern creeping into his voice.

 

“How. How did you-”

 

“You read her shit constantly and you’re a lazy bastard who won’t climb down to get to the bookshelf which leaves me to go get it for you-”

 

“Dex.” He forced out causing the other boy to stop talking. Nursey had no idea what to say. Chowder always joked that he was the one of them that was best with words but they completely escaped him now.

 

How could he tell Dex how much this meant to him? That, yeah, he knew Dex always found it a bit dramatic when people say “I’m alive because of this person” but this woman had given him the strength to keep moving, keep living when he really hadn’t thought he could. How do you explain that kind of blind gratitude to someone who really only believes what they can see?

 

“Come on,” Dex put a hand on Nurseys elbow. He felt it through the three layers of clothes. “We’re gunna miss the beginning and get stuck in the back.”

 

His words were practical but his voice was so soft Nursey could barely hear him over the thump of his own heart. He could not believe this was happening.

 

Dex guided him through the door, going to the back area of the bookstore where they were intercepted by a clerk. Dex immediately whipped out two tickets and handed them to her. She smiled and allowed Dex to guide Nursey into a seat in what seemed to be a reading room. There weren’t many chairs, a couple dozen but still intimate. Nursey was sure his mouth with still slightly parted in shock but it dropped wide open when Waheed came out to the front of the room. He thought he heard Dex chuckle next to him before flicking Nursey’s chin.

 

“Breathe, you weirdo.” He instructed and Nursey did, shakily but a breath was a breath when your biggest life influence was standing no more than a hundred feet away.

 

All Nursey could hear was her speaking from then till the end of the reading. He’d snuck a glance at Dex who, unfortunately for Nurseys pulse, was already studying him. After that, he’d kept his eyes trained ahead because his heart was already in shambles.

 

He wanted to clap as loud as he could at the end but decorum or whatever had him snapping his fingers along with everybody else. And then she was gone but Nursey’s heart just felt so fucking full?

 

He beamed over at Dex, completely uninhibited at this point because really he had nothing to be embarrassed about at this point.

 

“Do you wanna look around a little?” Dex stuttered out after a second, the classic Pointdexter blush was spreading attractively from his ears down to the collar of his shirt.

 

“Nah,” he shook his head, “I’m good. More than good. Let’s go home.”

 

Dex nodded and they made their way out into the cold. Nursey felt his breaths coming a little bit easier as they made their way to the car. It was like when he read  _ salt. _ when he was anxious yet somehow more. There was no way to explain it other than his soul feeling noticeably lighter, calmer.

 

They didn’t really speak till getting back on the highway when Dex turned the music down slightly and took a quick look at Nursey, probably to make sure he was awake.

 

“So, tell me something?” Dex asked, curiosity clear in his usually stoney features. Nurse nodded for him to continue so he did, “What made you like her so much? Your shelves are filled with awesome writers, shit you’ve read a hundred times. Why her?”

 

_ Why is she so important to you? _

 

Nursey didn’t even have to think twice before answering, “I guess when I first found her books I was trying to live my life in a majority white school filled with straight cis dudes and I just felt so… other? No matter how hard I tried I was always on the outside.” Nursey wasn’t shocked he was being so honest. It was Dex of all people and he knew that Dex only dealt in the truth. “Couple that with crippling anxiety and bouts of depression and its a shit combination.”

 

He laughed mirthlessly and that pucker of skin between Dex’s eyebrows was back but this time with concern instead of concentration.

 

“Anyway, I was in a library in the East Village one weekend when I was visiting home and I stumbled across  _ nejma _ , her first book. Suddenly, here was this book of incredibly honest poems by a nuanced, queer woman of color and I remember googling her to make sure it wasn’t fake.” He smiled at the memory, his weirdly undone laughter at the fact that it was real. “You grow up not seeing yourself in authors or characters or just popular culture in general outside of a specific stereotype that you start to feel a little… fake if you’re not that way too. I read that shit every single day. I preordered her second book and it was just so perfect for me coming into Samwell. That’s kind of why it’s so beat up. I read it constantly as a frog. It was kind of one of the few bits of comfort I had.”

 

He turned and Dex looked guilty, clearly remembering that he and Nursey hadn’t exactly made each others Freshman years easy.

 

“Don’t make that face.” Nursey said and Dex turned to him before taking the road onto campus, “It wasn’t… it wasn’t just all of that shit. It was just a big adjustment and stressful shit.”

 

Dex nodded, pulling up to the Haus and throwing the car in park. He nodded in the direction of the porch so that Nursey would look. There was a big banner with ‘HBD Nursey’ written on it in Bitty’s perfect script and a keg on the front porch, dollar store Valentines decorations everywhere. Lardo was propped on top of the keg like it was a throne and Nursey could see people milling around the house.

 

“What the fuck!?”

 

“It was Chowders idea.” Dex shook his head fondly, “and you know how the team loves a good kegster. They needed you out of the house for the afternoon while Rans, Holster, Lardo, and Shitty all came in.”

 

Nursey loved this fucking team so much.

 

Dex turned off the car and was unclicking his seatbelt when Nursey turned to him abruptly. Dex froze where he was sat.

 

“Dex, thank you.” he hated how earnest he sounded but he needed Dex to know. “You- you could have just taken me to the fuckin movies or something but you took me to something I’ve wanted to go to for years, dude. It means alot and you’ve been such a trooper putting up with me this year. I just. Thank you.” Dex was staring at his face intently and Nursey suddenly hated how light he got in the winter because the heat in his cheeks was probably clear as day, “Thank you for all of it.”

 

Dex’s eyes snapped up to Nursey’s with an uncertain understanding and quiet panic that made his stomach flop nervously.

 

“I-,“ he started but came to a full stop. Something softly determined settled over Dex’s features before he started over. “I just wanna see you  happy.”

 

When he said it Nursey knew it was the truth because for better or for worse, Dex was a man of few, often succinct, words. Nursey loved and hated it in equal measure.

 

Both of them physically jumped when someone banged on the passenger side window. Nursey may or may not have jumped so high he hit his head on the roof of the car.

 

Nursey loved Chowder unconditionally, he really did, but the kid had terrible timing.

 

“No fighting on birthdays! Get your asses inside or Shitty is gunna eat all the snickerdoodle edibles Lardo made you.”

 

With that he yanked Nurseys door open and immediately started asking about the reading. Chowder had heard him wax poetic about  _ salt. _ enough times that he knew Nursey had lost his shit.

 

He looked to Dex, who, for the second time that day, was already looking at him, and they both nodded to each other.  _ Later _ .

 

They got out of the car and Chowder swung and arm around both their shoulders, dragging them up the walk while the haus belted out an incredibly out of tune chorus of “Happy Birthday.”

  
  


+1.

 

Later never really came.

 

The party went until late and classes and practice took up the rest of their week. He should’ve tried to talk to Dex over the weekend but Lardo and Rans stayed the extra couple days.

 

It wasn’t until after his classes on Monday that Nurse knew exactly how he wanted to tell Dex how he was feeling.

 

His hands were shaking as he texted Dex.

 

_ Annie’s at 7? _

 

The responding iMessage bubbles popped up almost immediately and Nursey couldn’t seem to catch his breath.

 

_ Sure _

 

He was hiding out in the library today with a mountain of problem sets to do so Nursey had the room to himself. He had no reason to hide the way his breath was coming a bit fast.

 

The difficulty was that Nursey hadn’t even realized he’d been feeling anything more than a stupid crush till his birthday and then his English class that day had blown those feelings wide open. The assignment had not allowed him to explain away his feelings and it had given him an indisputable gesture that wouldn’t leave Dex wondering.

 

Which is how he found himself pacing in the makeshift backstage of Annie’s open mic night, refusing to peak behind the curtain to see where Dex was sitting. He had already texted Nursey that he was here and asking when he was showing up. He hadn’t replied because his hands were shaking too much. Dex would find out where he was soon enough.

 

The stage assistant called for his name and Nursey took a deep breath as he stepped close to the curtain. The MC was announcing him as the next act so there was no running now.

 

Luckily the stage lights were so bright that they were all he could see when he stepped in front of the mic. He pulled his notebook out of his back pocket and opened to the page he needed. Nursey looked to the first few tables then and let his eyes adjust. He refused to look to the booths lining the windows or the back tables. Dex was a creature of habit and that’s where he’d be.

 

Nursey spoke into the mic after clearing his throat, “Uh like they said, I’m Derek Nurse and I’ll be reading a short original piece. It’s pretty rough but here goes.”

 

The notebook was mostly for show; he had been obsessing over this poem since class so Nursey  trained his eyes to a spot above the front entrance and started reading.

 

“I’m used to emotions   
The ebbing and flowing   
  
But then there’s you   
And you just keep going   
  
You push and you push   
Till the end of my line   
  
Keep on making my voice shake   
When I try and say that I’m fine   
  
I was so busy seeing red   
That I didn’t see you losing sleep   
  
Sure I wanted it to be real

But I didn’t think it was something I could keep

 

The yelling stopped   
Somewhere along the way   
  
and You proved soft   
with your Underbelly on display    
  
You used to be easy to dismiss   
When i thought you were one in the same”

 

Nursey forced his eyes to the back booths and landed immediately on a red cheek, slack faced Dex. The moment he took to look felt like forever as his eyes met Dex’s wide ones. He forced himself to keep the eye contact while he read the last few abrupt lines.   
  
“Shit got clear cause she asked:   
“ _ What’s the line between love and hate? _ ”   
And I almost said your fucking name”

 

He felt like he’d just jumped from a great height, suspended mid-fall. That had been the point of ending on that note because that’s where the situation left off, in freefall.

 

Nursey barely registered the applause as he got down from the stage, hands numbly fitting his notebook back into his pocket. There was no running now.

 

Dex’s face was shocked and frozen, red down to his collar and Nursey tried not to think about how much further it went (not the time brain, not the time.) He slid into the booth and was grateful the waitress came over almost immediately. He ordered a coffee even though he didn’t need to be any more jittery than he already was.

 

Then all he had to do was-

 

“So,” Nursey mumbled, the suspended feeling in his stomach turn sour and nauseous, “what are you thinking?”

 

A small and pathetic squeak emitted from the boy across from him and Nursey bit back his laughter. He was always the more talkative of them so he pressed on.

 

“You’ve been doing things for me all year.” It was a fact, not a question and Dex trained his eyes on the salt and pepper shakers. “You made me a bookshelf, you knocked someone out for disrespecting me, you took me to that fucking poetry reading. I kept thinking, maybe he’s doing all this because he feels guilty about being a complete ass hole and then i thought maybe he’s doing it because we actually ended up being friends. But I don’t think any of that is why.”

 

It was a bold assumption seeing as Dex still hadn’t said anything but Nursey kept going, leaning his elbows on the table and hunching over to make Dex look at him. The eye contact made his stomach flip and his anxiety swell but this was important and Dex was looking at him like- Derek didn’t know.

 

“That night when we got back from Boston, when we were sitting in the car it felt like if Chowder hadn’t-” He hesitated, nerves bubbling so close to the surface, “It felt like more than you making amends. I don’t know when I started speaking Poindexter but I know you’re an actions are louder than words kind of dude and I was wracking my brain for what to do or what to say for days. I could barely paid attention in class today and then Professor Abdo prompted us for homework and-”

 

He nodded back to the stage in silent explanation and Dex looked like he was holding his breath. Nursey gave him a minute. This was a lot to take in and William Poindexter is easily overwhelmed but the longer the silence stretched the more the doubt niggled at Nursey’s mind. Maybe he’d read the situation entirely wrong, maybe Dex really was just tolerating him to make their lives easier, maybe this was entirely in Nursey’s head.

 

“If I’m wrong,” he started, trying to take the saddened panic out of his voice, “that’s okay, Dex. I need you to know that if I’m wrong and completely out of line, it’s not a big deal. I won’t make things weird, I promise. We can keep going how we’ve been. I just don’t want- I  _ can’t _ lose you-”

 

The table jolted a little and then there were chapped lips on his, the kiss was a little stiff and startling but, real real real real real. Derek’s shock was clearly deterring Dex from continuing because he started to pull away and oh no Nursey couldn’t have that.

 

So he brought his hand to the back of Dex’s neck to keep him where he was before adjusting his mouth a little to soundly kiss the boy in front of him. It was tender and sweet and filled with so so much emotion it knocked the wind out of him. Derek wasn’t sure how Dex could be so calm all the time with this storm brewing just under the surface. It felt like touching an energy source and feeling the hum of it beneath your fingertips.

 

His feelings for Nursey had done that. Nursey had done that.

 

Derek pulled away when he heard a light cough and remembered he’d ordered coffee. Dex could in fact go a deeper shade of red.

 

“Sorry,” Derek mumbled as he took the mug from her, “and thanks.”

 

She smiled at them both but turned to Derek, “You’re good. Great poem, by the way.” She winked and left before he could thank her.

 

Dex was looking like he was going to slide so far down in his seat he’d be under the table in no time. Derek tried to stop his laugh from barking out but it was too late and Dex shot him a murderous look. He couldn’t stop giggling till he forced himself to take a sip of his coffee. He’d taken a leap and fell right into a safety net he wasn’t sure he had.

 

“Hurry up and finish so we can go.” Dex grumbled from his sunken position but Nursey could see his pupils were a little dilated and he kept swiping his tongue over his bottom lip.

 

Nursey tilted his head a little and raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t put out on the first date, Dexy.”

 

The roll of Dex’s eyes could be seen from space. “Just finish your coffee, Nurse.”

 

He obediently took a long drink, draining almost the whole mug. If it wasn’t for the cream he used, Nursey was sure he’d have burned his tongue off by now. He fit a five under the ceramic and started zipping up his coat.

 

Dex was up and waiting beside the table in a moment. Nursey looked up at him, all long lean muscle and suspicious eyes. Derek’s feelings for Dex were a lot of things: scary, exhilarating, unfortunate, maddening but they sure as fuck weren’t casual.

 

“Will,” He started and Dex trained his eyes on Derek’s like a laser. Nursey felt pinned in place, “if you do want- if we. I can’t be-”

 

“I know.” Dex said, a small smile pulling at his lips.

 

“Ok then.” Derek stood up to come next to him, smiling brightly, “We’ll figure it out together, right?”

 

It was cheesy and they both knew it. Dex rolled his eyes but it was fond and practiced. His face finally broke into a goofy grin that made Nursey’s stomach tumble.

 

“Yeah, Nurse.” Dex laced his fingers with Nursey’s and pulled him toward the exit, “Together.”

**Author's Note:**

> Fin! Nursey's poem is inspired by a tumblr post I cannot find so if you have it pls send it along so I can link. Nayyirah Waheed doesn't really do readings so this isn't entiiirely realistic but I HC that Nursey adores her so *shrugs*. There is an epilogue of sorts coming because I just can't let this story go. The epilogue will be a bit more uh mature so fair warning. I hope you enjoyed these stupid loving boys being stupid and in love.
> 
> Come chat on


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